Pipe and flue cleaner



(No Model.)

T H KANE PIPE AND FLUE CLEANER.

Patented June 21 fines 1 92 1;

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A'IENT PEPE AND FLUE CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,013, dated June 21,1898.

Application filed February 14, 1898. Serial No. 670,263. (No model.)

To all whom zit may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS HENRY KANE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at' Shreveport, in the parishof Caddo and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Pipe andFlue Cleaner, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to chimney-cleaners, and has for its object toprovide a device adapted to be applied to a chimney. or other flue or toa stovepipe to remove soot and analogous accumulations .by the suddenliberation and expansion of a gas, as by the explosion of gunpowder orthe equivalent thereof, whereby the soot is not only loosened, but blownfrom the flue or pipe by the expansion of the gas.

Further objects and advantages of this invent-ion will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a chimney-cleanerconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a ver ticalsectional view of the same applied in the operative position to astovepipe.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures of the drawmgs.

sists of an inverted conical barrell, preferably constructed to flarecontinuously from its lower to its upper end and closed at its lower endby a disk-like head 2, having a priming-groove 3 in communication withthe interior of the barrel, whereby when an explosive substance, such asgunpowder, is arranged in the barrel a sufficient portion will beexposed in the priming-groove to enable the operator to apply a torch ormatch. This head may be provided with suitable supporting-legs 4,adapted to rest upon the top of a stove, such as that indicated at 5,when the apparatus is applied to a stovepipe 6; but it is obvious thatin cleaning chimney-fines the supporting-legs may be arranged upon thehearth or the bottom of the fireplace. It will be understood that thesejsupporting-legs are of particular advantage in supporting the device, asabove indicated, upon a stove-top or chimney-hearth; but in the smallersizes, which may be employed for cleaning lengths of stovepipe, othermeans for supporting the barrel, but the equivalent of those means forholding said barrel in the required position, may be substituted.

Attached by means of an encircling ring 7 to the barrel of the cleaneris a supportingrod 8, preferably terminating in a loop 9 and designed tosupport the lower extremity of a pipe-section, as when thelowermostpipe-section is removed to admit the cleaner, and the lower end of theadjoining pipe-section is fitted around the upper end of the barrel 1and bears upon the supporting-rod.

Having disposed the cleaner as described, either in communication with astovepipe or a chimney-flue, the barrel having previously been chargedby the introduction of a suitable quantity of gunpowder or theequivalent thereof, a torch or match is applied to the priming,whereupon the explosion will not only loosen, but will discharge sootfrom the pipe or flue, and thus accomplish without loss of time anoperation which, with flue-cleaning devices now in common use, can beattained only after a considerable lapse of time.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A fine and pipecleaning device, having a barrel adapted to fit into aflue or pipe, andprovided, in communication with its interior, with a priming-receptacle,substantially as specified.

2. A flue and pipe cleaning device having an inverted conical orupwardly-flared barrel, and a com municating priming-receptacle,substantially as specified.

3. A flue and pipe cleaner having an inverted conical barrel closed atits'lower end by a head provided with a priming-groove in communicationwith the interior of the barrel, and supporting-legs depending from saidhead, substantially as specified.

4. A flue and pipe cleaner having a barrel In testimony that I claim theforegoing as adapted to be fitted into a flue or pipe, and my own I havehereto affixed my signature in having a communicatingpriming-receptacle, the presence of two W1tnesses.

and a supporting-rod secured to the barrel at THOMAS HENRY KANE. 5 anintermediate point to form a bearing for \Vitnesses:

the lower end of apipe-section, substantially HOWARD I-I. PRESCOTT,

as specified. O. W. BURGKETT.

